Overload downs PSN again

A barrage of password-reset requests by online gamers eager to get back to their first love has slowed down the phased restoration of Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) after a month-long outage, and forced the company to temporarily shut down the service this morning.

“We're expereiencing [sic] a heavy load of password resets and will be turning off the services for 30 minutes to clear the queue,” the Japan-based gaming company said in its official PlayStation Twitter account.

“If you’ve requested your password reset, it’s taking time to clear all of the ISPs, so please give it a bit of time to reach your email,” it said in another Twitter update.

The delays following a month-long wait to get back to gaming on the PSN is infuriating eager users who have long awaited the gaming network’s comeback.

After yesterday’s announcement of the PSN’s initial restoration, Sony's server was dogged with persistent requests for password resets, overwhelming the network and slowing down the process.

“Due to the high volume of emails, some users are experiencing delays receiving their password reset instructions. Thanks for your patience,” PlayStation said in its official Twitter account.

"We're now going live with certain PSN services in the UK, Ireland and the Middle East," PlayStationEU tweeted around 10pm UAE time yesterday.

Users, meanwhile, were left frustrated about Sony’s handling of the restoration.

User Christoph Koehler (@ckoehler) expressed frustration on Twitter: “What’s up?! PSN was up for me earlier, now it’s back down? :(”

“@PlayStation today I received a message saying someone else was trying to access my account while I was playing black ops,” lamented .Andrew. who goes by the Twitter moniker of @OrangeKushSoda.

Sony had yesterday announced on its UAE blog (ae.playstation.com) that it was beginning a phased restoration by region of PlayStation Network and Qriocity services.

The phased restoration, it said, would be on a country by country basis beginning in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

The company has since apologized for what could be one of the biggest security breaches in Internet history that exposed personal information of more than 77 million users of the PSN, and promised a more robust consumer data protection policy to combat future attacks.

Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation, offered users his “sincere regret for the inconvenience” caused by “this incident” and said the company was “taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident, and are making consumer data protection a full time, company-wide commitment.”

The gaming company also said it is introducing an early warning system that will alert the company of any attempts to penetrate the network, among other new security measures.

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